The End of Time and the Eclipse of Distance

The ocean of divine mercy is surging, the vernal showers are descending, the Sun of Reality is shining gloriously. Heavenly teachings applicable to the advancement in human conditions have been revealed in this merciful age. This reformation and renewal of the fundamental reality of religion constitute the true and outworking spirit of modernism, the unmistakable light of the world, the manifest effulgence of the Word of God, the divine remedy for all human ailment and the bounty of eternal life to all mankind.”

(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 439)

The title reflects the content of the next two posts.  The end of time and the eclipse of distance are twin but distinct aspects of one phenomenal event, as I hope to show.  This post is about the end of time as an experienced and expected rhythm of events. The next post explores more deeply the idea of the eclipse of distance, which disrupts this rhythm. This one focuses upon the revolutionizing power of Revelation, the other one is humanity’s response without knowledge of the impact and configuring power of Revelation

The reformation and renewal of the fundamental reality of religion, which is the central reality of human existence since the essence of religion is the linking of the realities of Spirit and Matter into a new configuration of universal relationships, has had two effects: disintegration and integration. Integration is from what Baha’u’llah calls Paradise being brought nigh.  This, in turn, results in hell blazing up in a fury of disintegration stemming from those holding positions of power and authority trying to hold on to a rapidly fading reality.  Both are primary aspects of the establishment of a new order.  Paradise is the social, moral and spiritual pattern that humanity is to grow into, while the blazes of hell burn away the social obstacles, spiritual veils, and barriers of consciousness blocking the realization of that goal. 

Baha’u’llah points to both of these effects: “I testify that no sooner had the First Word proceeded, through the potency of Thy will and purpose, out of His mouth, and the First Call gone forth from His lips than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths. Through that Word the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly kingdom, entities of a new creation, and revealing, in the unseen realms, the signs and tokens of Thy unity and oneness. Through that Call Thou didst announce unto all Thy servants the advent of Thy most great Revelation and the appearance of Thy most perfect Cause.

No sooner had that Revelation been unveiled to men's eyes than the signs of universal discord appeared among the peoples of the world, and commotion seized the dwellers of earth and heaven, and the foundations of all things were shaken. The forces of dissension were released, the meaning of the Word was unfolded, and every several atom in all created things acquired its own distinct and separate character. Hell was made to blaze, and the delights of Paradise were uncovered to men's eyes.” (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah: 295-296)

All consciousness takes place in mental “space”, an internal, intellectual world analogous to that outer physical space in which actual bodies move.  In this mental space are the objects of knowledge whose counterparts are both in the outer world and in a deeper inner spiritual world, making mind intermediate to matter and spirit.  Perhaps the brain receives images sent from the eyes, but also projected from the mind, since all around us is the work of mind, and sends them back.

But when paradise is brought nigh, i.e. the proclamation of a new Revelation, a new psychological situation, what sociologist Daniel Bell called the eclipse of distance, is created. The eclipse of distance is the fusion of opposites in a new configuration that breaks up the established mental space because it creates a new one.  A certain loss of consciousness—at least as it has been known and defined—occurs.  But this is the prelude to the construction of a new mental space because a new consciousness is emerging.  There is no way to perceive this new creation except via experience and direct perception.  One cannot intellectually reason to it.  Rather the opposite occurs; one gets farther away, because reasoning can, at this early stage, only go on within the disappearing space of mind.  The frustration and paralysis is hell blazing.

Paradise is brought nigh so that the soul may make the leap of faith not out of consciousness but into greater consciousness, into the spirit of faith.  It is knowledge by faith and vision, not intellect.  Knowledge by faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1-3 as the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen”.  The substance of things hoped for is the object of faith: the action that comes from and is driven by hope itself.  That is, faith, not mere wish or desire, is the actual substance of things hoped for.  The emphasis is not on unfounded hope, but on actuality.  The evidence of things unseen is the visible sign of an invisible spiritual reality, so that one may act with certainty.  Thus, the action of faith is not of the fingers-crossed “I hope that this works” variety but, rather, “I know this to be true for certain (certitude) for its early signs are already manifest."  Faith as conscious knowledge is founded upon this condition of certitude.  Behind faith, then, and even giving it life and form and direction, is a true vision of Reality.  The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds, so the essence of faith is an action in conformity with one’s own or a higher vision than one’s own. 

Direct connection, the fusing of opposites in new configuration, is the work of the Manifestation.  The eclipse of distance as I am using the term refers, first, to His abolition of the accumulation of human concepts about God that create an artificial distance between Him and human beings in their minds and systems of belief.  Paradise brought nigh refers to the fact that a new Revelation has been given to humanity, has received verbal and written form and is present in the world, along with Its Revealer. 

When He “brings Paradise nigh” and the human heart responds in truth, then He manifestly shines within the human reality.   That is, when the heart opens the Reality already within it shines forth.  Direct connection is experienced as this eclipse of distance that is the immediate and certain recognition of the Reality that has always been within.  In literature this moment is called the “recognition scene.” 

Baha’u’llah wrote: “O My servants! The one true God is My witness! This most great, this fathomless and surging Ocean is near, astonishingly near, unto you. Behold it is closer to you than your life-vein! Swift as the twinkling of an eye ye can, if ye but wish it, reach and partake of this imperishable favor, this God-given grace, this incorruptible gift, this most potent and unspeakably glorious bounty.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 326)

Also: “Meditate on what the poet hath written: "Wonder not, if my Best-Beloved be closer to me than mine own self; wonder at this, that I, despite such nearness, should still be so far from Him."... Considering what God hath revealed, that "We are closer to man than his life-vein," the poet hath, in allusion to this verse, stated that, though the revelation of my Best-Beloved hath so permeated my being that He is closer to me than my life-vein, yet, notwithstanding my certitude of its reality and my recognition of my station, I am still so far removed from Him. By this he meaneth that his heart, which is the seat of the All-Merciful and the throne wherein abideth the splendor of His revelation, is forgetful of its Creator, hath strayed from His path, hath shut out itself from His glory, and is stained with the defilement of earthly desires.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 185)